Friday, January 27, 2012

Montessori Adult - Intro

“…Though all
ought to possess all virtues, yet all are not equally bound to exercise them;

but each
ought to practice, in a more particular manner,

those
virtues which are most requisite for the state of life to which he is called.”

Introduction to the Devout
Life (Part III, Chapter I)

St. Francis de Sales

Unless we can be in continuous
preparation ourselves, in a state of perpetual improvement and hold onto a new
vision of the child, it will be difficult to serve them properly. We do not
wish to be a servant to the child but to serve him in a holistic manner as he
continues to develop as a whole person himself. In order to provide
holistically, it is necessary to be holistically prepared as well. The adult
should be prepared intellectually,
emotionally and spiritually.

Adults are generally quick to give
their weaknesses, but we must know our strengths and what we have to offer to
function as part of a society as well as to work with children. For the best
example of how to do this, we turn to the children themselves who are much
quicker to tell you what they are good at, what they need to work on, and even
to help us discover our own strengths and weaknesses.

No other educational method places
so much attention and emphasis on the interior preparation of the adult.

In order for society to be
normalized, we need to have normalized individuals who are operating at optimal
functioning. Ideally, this begins in childhood, and we provide for that in the
casa, but adults who have missed the childhood opportunities are not left with
no options. We cannot redo sensitive periods from our childhoods, but we can do
something about our weaknesses.